this post was submitted on 30 Jan 2026
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You are talking about the business extension that was already available everywhere, but it requires buying it. I haven't looked into it but I haven't seen anything saying it was free. The article is talking about Germany and the free version that Europe forced Microsoft to enable for everyone, even without a subscription - but only in Europe. That one is only one year.
The link I shared contains steps to activate the 3-year extension for free, on a non-business computer. I don't care if this extension is marketed towards business accounts. You can activate all 3 years on your personal computer for free.
Piracy is usually free yeah but that really doesn't count.
I honestly think it's a bit of a stretch to call it piracy when the open-source code is hosted on Microsoft-owned Github, and Microsoft support has been caught using it themselves: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/microsoft-support-cracks-windows-for-customer-after-activation-fails/